Heather Barth
As
long as I can remember, making caramels has been a thing in my family. I
believe it started with my mother's mother and I recall them being wrapped in
waxed paper with a twist on each end. She and my grandfather lived
on Berkeley Street when I was in elementary school at Rosslyn Heights. What a treat it was to walk home from school and take a detour to her
house before going home. As soon as I got there she splashed me
with Jean Nate ("my goodness you smell like school"), gave
me a big hug, and spoiled my dinner with a caramel she had made(or a peppermint
taffy if the caramels were gone)!
After
my grandmother passed away, my father started making the caramels...and boy did
he take it to a new level! The freshest ingredients, the best candy
thermometer money could buy, cut by hand meticulously with a ruler (now he uses
a mold), packed carefully in paper candy cups, and refrigerated so the corners
would stay perfectly square! For many years the most coveted Christmas
gift in the Parleys 1st Ward was a box of OD Hall's caramels!
I
don't have my dad's envied patience or penchant for perfection, so I don't even
try to make these caramels any more (although my sister Alicia Richardson does and hers are fantastic),
but the memory of them is pure love! And trust me they are delicious!
You
perfectionists out there...give it a try!
Grand "D's" Caramels
4 cups sugar
Few grains salt
4 cups corn syrup
1 cup butter
2 pints whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla
Boil sugar, salt and
corn syrup to 240 degrees. Add butter. Put on lid and boil up the
sides. Remove lid. Add whipping cream gradually, taking 20 minutes.
Cook until 236 degrees, firm ball. Remove from heat. Add
vanilla. Pour into buttered molds or a buttered jellyroll pan. Sit
room temperature until cooled. Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment